


i know my worth

by WelcomeToTheBadlands



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - 1950s, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Lawyers, Badass Rey, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Law School, Mentioned Leia Organa, Minor Phasma/Rose, Minor Poe Dameron/Finn, Misandry, Misogyny, More tags later, Rey Needs A Hug, Slow Burn, Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-10 21:59:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17434277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WelcomeToTheBadlands/pseuds/WelcomeToTheBadlands
Summary: Rey Kenobi was smarter than anyone else in her class, and she was proud of that. Maybe that’s what got her into the first class of women admitted to Harvard Law in 1945. All three of the women that had actually been admitted this year. Maybe it was the lack of other people like her that was making her a little bit nervous, but she deserved to be here and she wasn’t going to back down.Rey got dressed, she had worked over time to be able to afford a good dress and coat for her first day there. She had to make a good impression, and one that wouldn’t make the men there believe that she would be barefoot and pregnant about two months into the semester.





	1. Chapter 1

“You are never going to amount to anything.” Was something that Unkar Plutt told her often. Rey had gotten used to hearing it. She pretended to agree. But she never actually did. She just took the abuse and waited, making the best grades she could and waiting for the day that she would be able to make it out of here. 

“You’re not even pretty. You’re not going to get a husband. Just gonna stay with me and be a burden, you stupid bitch.” Rey winced at that word. She wanted to tell him that she didn’t need a husband, but she knew that would only get a rise out of him and she didn’t need that.  _ Just wait.  _ She told herself.  _ You’ll prove him wrong.  _

* * *

  
  


Rey Kenobi was smarter than anyone else in her class, and she was proud of that. Maybe that’s what got her into the first class of women admitted to Harvard Law in 1945. All three of the women that had actually been admitted this year. Maybe it was the lack of other people like her that was making her a little bit nervous, but she deserved to be here and she wasn’t going to back down. 

 

Rey got dressed, she had worked over time to be able to afford a good dress and coat for her first day there. She had to make a good impression, and one that wouldn’t make the men there believe that she would be barefoot and pregnant about two months into the semester. 

 

The air was cool, a harsh wind cutting through her and the thin trenchcoat that she had wrapped around her. That only encouraged her to get to the door faster. Harvard Law was a big place, bigger than she had expected when she had applied. It just seemed so overwhelming, but she did her best to not let other people know that she was overwhelmed. Rey had been told that she had a very good poker face too, so it shouldn’t be too hard.  _ There’s something else that will be harder.  _ Her brain tells her, and she knows that she can’t dwell on  that right now. If she was going to successful, she couldn’t let that stop her from what she was doing. 

 

Rey headed to the main hall, where everyone was congregating and sitting down, ready for the Dean’s speech. “Is this seat taken?” She asked the first man that she saw that was sitting alone. He just eyed her, and when he didn’t say anything, Rey said that she would take that as a yes and sat down next to him. The nervousness that she had was overtaken by something else. Excitement. She was really here. 

 

The Dean came in a moment later. Her emotions were mixed when she saw him. It was just that sort of thing that she got when she knew that someone was untrustworthy. She tuned out most of his speech though, only really catching the end of it. She didn’t need to listen to the speech to know what he said. “A Harvard man will succeed.”  _ Man, man, man.  _ Harvard men were supposed to be exemplary people.

She was thankful when everyone started to get up and Orientation continued. The man next to her said, “New here?” 

Rey blinked, talking a second to register that he was talking to her. “Oh yes,” She said. 

“Yes,” He nodded. He seemed a bit awkward, but that was okay. She was too. He jutted his hand out. “Ben Solo.” 

“Rey,” She took it. 

“Just Rey?” She was beginning to regret it. 

“Just Rey.” She repeated, letting her hand fall to the ground. There was an awkward silence between the two of them. 

“So, uh, where are you from?” Her mood was already beginning to sour. She didn’t want to talk about this, but she knew that she couldn’t just assume that someone would have an adverse reaction. 

 

“Jakku,” She said. It was one of the most awful parts of New York ever, and of course, Ben Solo had an adverse reaction. He wrinkled his nose but didn’t really say anything, something that Rey was glad of. 

 

“Interesting,” Rey laughed nervously, kind of hoping that someone would save her from this situation. She wanted to go home and take a nap. She knew what was going to happen, she just knew how downhill that this conversation was going to go. “I didn’t know that Harvard excepted charity cases.”  _ Especially since you’re a woman.  _

 

“Excuse me?” 

 

“That came out—” 

 

“Ah, Solo.”

 

“Phasma,” 

 

A tall blonde woman ran to catch up to the both of them, “Screwing up talking to another girl I see.” She said. She grabbed Rey by the arm. “I can take it from here. Show her around.” 

 

“I was already talking to her,” 

 

“I’m sure she doesn’t want to talk to you.” She said. Rey didn’t have any time to agree or protest, Phasma just pulled her away to the other woman that was there at that moment. She was even smaller than Rey was, so the difference between the smaller girl and Phasma was almost comical. 

 

She was chipper, greeting Rey with a warm smile and a handshake. “I’m Rose,” She said, “so nice to see the other woman here.” 

 

“Rey,” She said. “And believe me, I was starting to worry that I wasn’t going to meet the other women here today.” 

 

“Well, we got to stand together.” Phasma said. “And that started with me pulling you away from Ben. Trust me I did you a favor there, he’s not the nicest guy.” 

 

“I guess you could say that again.” Rey said. She didn’t want to wrongly accuse someone of being awful, but what he had said was already enough for Rey to get the rough idea that she wasn’t going to like this guy. “We shouldn’t dwell on that though.” 

 

“Yes,” Phasma said, “I should show you around, I have a friend who works in the office here so I already know my way around campus pretty well.” Rey was happy for someone to show her around and get her to her classes. Especially knowing that the person that was helping her was another woman. Those initial jitters were starting to calm down. There were other people here who knew what she was going through. She was going to be okay. 

 

She would be okay. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this fic! Will update it I get at least 3 comments!

Ben Solo didn’t want to be a lawyer, he didn’t want to go to law school, and he certainly didn’t want to be in the family business. But here he was in Harvard in the first place, and he supposed that he was good enough at arguing to be a good lawyer. And the fact that he was smart enough to get into Harvard, even with 

Ben Solo wanted to be a dancer, like his grandmother Padme. He had always been good at it, the movement calmed him down in times of stress. His mother and father had not wanted that for him. He listened to them and he hated himself for it. 

He didn’t want to be here.  _ You can make money and provide for your family. The one that you don’t have. You can’t do that by going to Hollywood and doing a sissy’s job.  _ He guessed that maybe he should find that girl he insulted the other day. That would distract him from the current misery that he was having right now. 

* * *

  
  


Rey was ready for classes. She had never been more excited to learn in  her life, and she was always excited to learn. The leaves from the autumn trees were falling to the ground, and most of the men were congregated in groups, talking and laughing. She heard someone try and call out to her, saying that she was a real pretty lady that shouldn’t have to go to college to find a man. Rey rolled her eyes and kept going, Rose caught up with her a minute left. “Rey!” She was a very chipper girl, and Rey appreciated that. Especially when her mood needed a pick me up. “Oh thank goodness, what class are you going to?” 

“Legislation,” She said, “You?” 

“The same.” Rose looked giddy. Rey felt a bit of relief, now knowing that there would be another woman in the class. She knew that she needed to stop acting so nervous, needed to show the men around her that she knew her worth as much as everyone else in the class but she hadn’t figured out how to stop being nervous yet. “Oh look.” Rose’s mood soured almost instantly. “Ben Solo is coming, ready to sour our mood as usual.” 

“Great,” 

“Walk faster, maybe he’ll give up.” She knew that that wasn’t going to work, but she walked faster with Rose anyway. That didn’t stop Ben Solo from calling her name and forcing her to stop in the middle of the pathway. 

“What do you want? I have to get to class and I would prefer to not be late on the first day.” 

“I came here to apologize,” Rose was next to him, standing there awkwardly. She shook her head, obviously judging Ben. “What I said was an insensitive joke and I can see how awful it would’ve made you feel, and it made me feel awful for offending you. I can tell you right now that I’m an insensitive jerk.” Rey pursed her lips, staring him up and down. He seemed sincere enough. 

“Okay,” She said. “That’s fine. You’re forgiven.” She turned on her heel and went to her class. Ben was still following her. 

“What are you doing?” Rose asked. 

“This is my first class.” Rey rolled her eyes.  _ Great.  _

* * *

  
  


Ben could tell that Rey Kenobi was well equipped for this class. “The State of Tennessee vs Scopes,” The teacher started out asking. “Can anyone tell me what the trial was about?” She was the first one to raise her hand, but the teacher looked up, made eye contact and looked away. His eyes turned to Hux, another kid in the class. “Hux,” He said. Rey looked a little more than displeased that she wasn’t getting called on. 

“Some idiot tried to force his beliefs on the kids he was teaching in class, he got put in jail for it and complained a lot.” 

“While I like your enthusiasm, Mr. Hux, I need an impartial summary.” He looked to Ben. 

“Mr… Solo?” 

He could see Rey getting irritated by the fact that he still wasn’t picking her. 

“I think that Miss Rey actually knows the answer, she had her hand raised before either me or Hux.” He rolled his eyes as the teacher reluctantly moved to her. 

“State of Tennessee vs Scopes was a trial in which John Scopes did not teach creationism, and instead the Theory of Charles Darwin and got thrown in jail for it. The lawyers were Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan. Scopes was found guilty and had to pay one hundred dollars, but Tennessee later overturned his conviction.” 

The way that she said it with such conviction and confidence made Ben smile. She liked showing off.  Ben liked that she liked showing off. She wasn’t scared of other men being intimidated by her. He found himself staring, even though he wasn’t really listening to what the teacher or Rey was saying. She looked a little bit agitated, but didn’t seem too bothered as she still took notes and participated in the rest of class. 

Afterwards she and Rose were standing outside the main building when Ben came off. “I appreciate what you did in there, Mr. er, Solo.” She told him. Ben thought that he heard a ‘but’ coming in there somewhere. “But I don’t need someone else fighting my battles for me.” 

He wasn’t too mad by that. “Alright,” He said, “understood.” He nodded sheepishly and stepped out of her way.  She smiled at him and it was actually sincere. He loved that. He wished that he could talk to her more and learn more about her, and also apologize again for what he said, because he was the last person that should

“Thank you,” 

“You’re welcome,” He said. He watched her walk away, wishing he wasn’t as awkward as he was. He would see her again later, he knew that, but he didn’t know if he would have the courage to do just that. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Should i make the chapters longer after thos


End file.
